Rosenthal: Dodgers’ decision to cut ties with Trevor Bauer shouldn’t have been difficult at all

So here is the risk. The Los Angeles Dodgers made the right decision Friday to cut ties with Trevor Bauer.

The San Diego Padres, the Dodgers’ biggest threat in the National League West, are now able to sign Bauer for a minimum salary of $720,000. and could beat the Dodgers in both the and National League pennants.

There is only one logical answer. who cares

Every team wants to win. All teams shudder to help their rivals. But professional sports executives ask, “Who are we? What do we stand for?”

The Dodgers couldn’t provide a proper answer about this pitcher until Friday’s breakup with Bauer or the deadline to reinstate him to the active roster. Worrying about the above disadvantages effectively delayed their decision until the last minute.

That was not all.of Dodgers issue statement While announcing his decision regarding Bauer, he has not yet said he will not tolerate the actions that led to his suspension. Bauer, meanwhile, issued a statement of his own Dodgers management said, “They wanted me to come back and pitch for the team this year.” Dodger’s aspirations probably hinged on him agreeing to some terms he refused to meet.

The Dodgers will pay the remaining $22.5 million under Trevor Bauer’s contract (considering a 50-game docking payout). They have seven days to find a counterparty before exonerating him. Once he clears, any team can sign him as a free agent for $720,000.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) January 7, 2023

The Dodgers’ selection shouldn’t have been so difficult. Frankly, I don’t think it was difficult at all. Bauer’s 194-game suspension was the longest a player has served under a joint domestic policy agreed upon by Major League Baseball and the Players Association. He is accused of hitting and choking multiple women during sex. He acknowledged such behavior but said it was agreed upon in advance and demanded during consensual rough sex.

The league provided an alternative explanation in a disciplinary notice to Bauer in April 2022. According to the league, Bauer subjected two women to “violent and non-consensual conduct during sex.” He also repeatedly choked a third woman until she was knocked unconscious, according to the report, and had sex with her while she was unconscious. The league also cited a defamation lawsuit against one of the women and her attorney as “threat or tampering,” stating that Bauer made verbal threats against another woman, which is prohibited under all joint policies. action.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied the woman’s request for a restraining order against Bauer. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges against him, but his two separate bodies, MLB and a neutral arbitrator approved by the league and union, determined that he violated joint policy. Did. An arbitrator upheld the suspension of the league, but reduced it from 324 games to 194.

The Dodgers did not see the arbitrator’s decision, which is confidential under joint policy. But how much more did they need to know? provided several photos to The woman’s face was visibly bruised and swollen, including under both eyes, in these photos, which Bauer’s team claimed “appeared to have been edited.” suspension was reason enough for the Dodgers to let him go.

But the Dodgers, a franchise that made Jackie Robinson the first African-American player in the majors and now has former tennis mogul and social activist Billie Jean King as one of its owners, believes Bauer won’t be the only one. He seemed more preoccupied with the fear of being successful elsewhere than he was about being successful in one place.

Another team could sign Bauer, who turns 32 on January 17. However, Bauer said he hasn’t pitched in a major league game since June 28, 2021. And while the Dodgers’ concerns about the Padres signing Bauer, on the surface, seem well-founded from a baseball standpoint, they’re also rather short-sighted. If Bauer is added when the woman who requested the order is from San Diego, a lot of explanation has to be given.

Any club that wants to give Bauer a chance will take over all his baggage. The Dodgers, aware of his reputation as an online bully, especially towards women, signed him to a three-year, $102 million free agency deal in February 2021. At his inaugural press conference, he said: Social He promises to be better in the media, on the field, in the clubhouse and in life in general. ”

“In our conversations, he alludes to mistakes he’s made in the past,” said Andrew Friedman, president of the Dodgers’ baseball division. Time will tell, but I have a feeling he’s going to be great not only on the field, but also in the clubhouse and community.

How did it work?

The alleged act of stopping Bauer was significantly worse than his previous behavior. But by the end, the Dodgers acted like passive bystanders in the process. Their public standing, or lack thereof, has led to infielder Stalin pledging to release his Castro shortly after he received a 30-game suspension for violating joint domestic violence in September 2021. Washington, who ran he was the exact opposite of what the Nationals did. policy.

Castro, who was about $1 million in debt at the time, had just turned 32 and hasn’t played a major since. The 2020 season was shortened due to the pandemic. But the team has zero he either follows the tolerance policy or he doesn’t. In Bauer’s case, the Dodgers seemed afraid to admit their mistakes.

When the request for a restraining order against Bauer first became public, the team initially said they would postpone it to the league for another start, then put him on leave. Team principal Stan Kasten made flippant remarks after the sport launched an investigation into Bauer, prompting a reprimand from commissioner Rob Manfred, who ultimately ruled that an arbitrator would decide his December 21st decision. The team spent 14 full days deciding Bauer’s fate.

A vacation was one of the reasons for the delay, sources said. Guggenheim, owner of his Mark Walter business at his Partners, Scott Minerd’s death, one of his partners, was another event. But for months, the Dodgers knew Bauer’s decision was looming. Why were they not ready to resist immediately?

They did just that when they agreed to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the Reds in December 2015, but backed out after learning the rescuer was under a domestic violence investigation. , baseball writer Jon Heyman, quotes Walter as saying: It wasn’t (just) ownership. “However, Kasten indicated the Dodgers were also interested in the competitive side — a possible suspension of Chapman for an unspecified length. “We didn’t know what the outcome of the investigation would be.” he says Kasten. “There were good reasons to be cautious.”

The Yankees acquired Chapman later that month amidst the same uncertainty. The league suspended Chapman for the first 30 games of the regular season. The Cubs acquired him from the Yankees near the trade deadline, defeated the Dodgers in the National League his championship series, and won his first World Series since 1908, in which Chapman played a key role.

Could the Dodgers have won the series if they had kept Chapman? Do the Cubs and many of their fans care that the pitcher’s suspension for domestic violence was part of their feel-good storyline? Probably not. All professional sports franchises compromise in ways that range from offensive to humiliating.

However, some decisions are so necessary and important that you don’t need to think too much about them.

The Dodgers’ breakup with Trevor Bauer qualifies, and then some.

(Photo: Meg Olyphant/Getty Images)